ISLAMABAD: The private practice of doctors working at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) seems to be failing as only two doctors are on regular private practice. In 42 days 500 patients have been examined and an income of 150,000 rupees has been made. According to details, on April 7th this year the private practice of PIMS doctors started and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s vice chancellor was assured of the doctors’ decision to start private practice. However, even after the passage of 40 days only one lady doctor and one male doctor named Mazhar Badshah are on regular private duty with the largest number of private patients visiting them for consultation and treatment. The doctors on private practice at PIMS have also hiked up their fees as compared to the doctors doing private practice in different clinics of the city. This is further worsened for the patients when the doctors do not sit at PIMS at regular working hours. The patients are forced to make appointments with them via phone calls. But when they are made to wait even after the appointment time and after paying the doctors’ fees at PIMS the poor patients are compelled to leave without examination or consultation by any physician. They have nothing else to do but curse themselves. In a government hospital with the largest roof over their heads the country’s most able and qualified physicians are now without patients as nobody visits those doing private practice now – even though four weeks have passed the situation has not changed. The administration of PIMS is helpless and unable to do anything in this matter. One of the reasons is that the vice chancellor Porfessor Javed Akram himself does not sit for private practice at PIMS. Added to this is the use of the government run hospitals resources and the high fees being charged by the doctors. For instance while many physicians running their own private clinics charge 1.000 rupees from the patient the PIMS private practice doctors charge 1,500 rupees and this is criticised by the poor patients who cannot afford to pay the exorbitant amount charged by the PIMS doctors. When contacted by The Daily Times the vice chancellor Professor Javed Akram said that it was incorrect to state that only two doctors are doing private practice at PIMS. According to his clarification 42 doctors are doing such duty and have earned 150,000 rupees so far for PIMS. He also said that the situation will continue to improve further as time goes by and PIMS would benefit the most from the situation as 20 per cent of the income goes to PIMS.